Safe kids could be happy kids
Kids, wear your helmet correctly and you just might get a free Happy Meal.
Law enforcement, fire agencies, and crossing guards throughout the community are handing out a total of 275 free Happy Meal coupons to area youth and children whom they spot riding a bicycle, scooter or skateboard while wearing a helmet correctly. The program is a partnership with Safe Kids of Kootenai County and McDonald's.
"We're happy to be partnering with a group that's trying to prevent preventable accidents for kids. These are injuries that can be significantly decreased with the wearing of a helmet and wearing it properly," said Craig Etherton, information officer for the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department.
Wearing helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent, and reduce the risk of severe injury by 88 percent, said Donna Kalanick, who serves as injury prevention coordinator for Kootenai Health and also coordinates Safe Kids Kootenai County.
Safe Kids Kootenai County is part of Safe Kids Worldwide. The organization dedicates itself to preventing injuries in children.
According to Safe Kids USA, head injury is the leading cause of wheeled sports-related death and a fall of as little as two feet can result in a skull fracture or traumatic brain injury. No law in Idaho compels the use of helmets while riding a bicycle.
Etherton says the fire department usually sees head and facial trauma when it responds to bicycle accidents. It is very dangerous to ride without a helmet, he said.
"Our brains control all of the important functions of our body, and if we sustain brain injury, it can affect not just the brain, but other organs and system," he said.
But despite the risk, Etherton sees children riding without helmets all the time. During one recent call, he recalled that among all of the children who rode up on their bicycles to watch, not one of them was wearing a helmet. He could give out no Happy Meal coupons.
Even among those who wear helmets, many wear them improperly. Etherton has seen helmets worn backward, tiny children in adult-size helmets, and older children wearing helmets far too small. Many children wear them back like baseball caps, which doesn't protect the forehead and face as well as a helmet worn properly, he said.
Safe Kids and the fire department want to prevent those kinds of injuries before they happen by educating the public.
"I do still have some more cards to give out," Etherton said.
Area agencies participating in Happy Meal program include:
* Safe Kids Kootenai County
* Kootenai Health
* Kootenai County Sheriff's Department
* Northern Lakes Fire Department
* Coeur d'Alene Fire Department
* Kootenai County Fire and Rescue
* Coeur d'Alene Police Department
* Post Falls Police Department
* Rathdrum Police Department